Tag: foodforthought

I think in today’s society we’re far too worried about what we look like. We fuss at ourselves in the mirror trying to achieve perfection. We feel self conscious if we don’t look our absolute best. We judge people based on their clothes, whether they have any makeup on, whether they’ve got their roots showing, or whether they’re covered in dirt. We often don’t know that person’s story. For all we know, they might not be wearing any makeup because they’ve ran out and haven’t had chance to pick up anymore, they might be covered in dirt because they’ve been running around after their children in a park, and they might not have got their roots done because they’ve just paid for their son’s new school uniform.

I’m guilty of worrying about my appearance all the time. My job at Next often requires me to go to work in my scruffy clothes when I’m working in the stock room, and as soon as I get on the tram in my ripped jeans and oversized tops, I feel as if all eyes are on me, as if to say, why are you wearing that? When I’m on the shop floor, I have to wear smart clothes, and it’s only then that I feel like I blend in, and that’s not right.

I’m the type of woman who feels like they can’t leave the house without their lipstick, that their shoes have to be perfectly polished, that their hair has to be perfectly tamed. The thought of leaving the house in old clothes fills me with dread.I want to take pride in my appearance but then sometimes I think that I’m over worrying. As long as I’m happy and comfortable… does it really matter?

I think the real issue is that we’re too busy worrying about what everyone else thinks. Often they’re people that we don’t even know and probably will never see again. Even worse, sometimes it’s people we know, people who love us, and we’re worrying about what they’ll be thinking. The truth is, if they love us, then they’ll love us regardless of what we look like.

We’re also too busy worrying about what everyone is doing. If that woman on the bus looks tired and weary, and looks as if she’s forgot to brush her hair, and her makeup’s smudged, then leave her alone. Maybe there’s a reason that she looks like that. And if there’s not, then good for her. She probably doesn’t care about your appearance that much, so why should you be worrying about her’s?

It’s time we stopped mindlessly judging. We’re all adults here. Let’s behave like we are.

It inhales the early morning air, fresh, tangent with diesel, with petrol, with a sort of smog that fills your lungs. It’s a concrete jungle inhaling the smell of panic and thriving on the worry that seems to infect the rush hour crowd like a plague. It towers, it’s waiting to conquer the urban wastelands on the outskirts that have not yet admitted that there’s no escaping the giant beating heart that is engulfing the core. At times it is deceitful, it offers an adrenaline rush to the susceptible, a feeling that at first is warm and inviting, that makes it seem like it is humming, buzzing with excitement. It poses as a metropolis of life, and you can become tricked by this mirage. It’s only as the clock ticks on, when darkness cloaks the skyline, that the cracks of society can be seen. There’s a sense of desolation in the midst of the morning before the city awakes and the cycle repeats itself.

As a young person, I feel that growing up in the 21st century is a struggle. Recently I’ve been really into the TV series, Beverly Hills 90210, and even though I know that this is not a real life example of what life would have been like for me (I’m not rich and I’m not living in LA), I can’t help but think that the world in the nineties was a much nicer place. I guess I’m feeling a nostalgia for a time I feel I never got to truly experience.

As much as I am a frequent user of the internet, of social media, and of technology in general, sometimes I wish that it didn’t exist. It can cause so much upset in people’s lives, whilst at the same time deterring away from what’s important. For example, how many people do you know that have been upset by a comment that they saw online? How many people do you know that have been affected by a dodgy picture or have had their personal life pried into? Maybe it’s even been you that has had those things happen to them.

Yesterday I was on the tram home from work, and my phone had died of battery due to me stupidly forgetting to charge it the night before. I had the time to actually people watch and it astonished me that every person around me was glued to their phones. In fact barely anyone was even talking to each other at all. And that made me kind of sad.

We text people instead of ring them these days, we skype instead of actually meeting up, and we share our memories via Facebook instead of at a meetup. We go online if we need to know something instead of going to the library, we pick up a kindle instead of reading an actual book, and we look online for recipes instead of asking our family and friends for advice.

Sometimes I imagine what a world without all of this technology would be like. I imagine the romance of love letters, how there might not be so much competition for jobs, how it would feel to have a night without my phone constantly beeping next to me… And I like what I see.

Yes technology makes our lives easier, but are we forgetting what’s important in the meantime? What do you think?

At some point in most people’s lives, people worry. The majority of people worry every single day about something whether it’s something major or something tiny. As a student, it’s so easy to spend too much time fretting, whether that’s fretting about being able to afford your weekly food shop or worrying about affording drinks on a night out. Then there’s emotional worries about whether we’re gonna pass our next assignment, or whether we’re gonna get a date with that cute guy that we really fancy.

The problem is that we’re spending too much time worrying. At the end of the day, we have to remember that we’re not psychic and we can’t change the outcome of something once we’ve done something. Well at least the majority of the time, and hey, if you know you’ve done everything you can to change the outcome, then remember there’s nothing more you can do except sit back and relax.

I worry all the time. Sometimes I worry about irrational things, irrational things such as what would happen if a spider came into my flat when I was alone and there was no one to get rid of it apart from me, who’s completely utterly and terrified by spiders. But what’s the point in worrying about things like that? If it happened, I’d probably scream a lot and hide in a different room, but the point is I’d survive. It wouldn’t change my life at all.

Sometimes I worry about completely normal things like what I’m going to do when I graduate, but in this case, I know I’m working my socks off to get the best grades I can, and I’m trying to gain work experience, so what more can I do?

I think what I’m trying to say is that, a little bit of worry is normal. But don’t let it take over your life. Next time I’m worrying away about something stupid I’m going to run myself a hot bath with loads of bubbles, and try to get rid of some of that stress. It won’t completely remove my worries, but it’ll take my mind off things for a bit, after all I’m only human.

After a Christmas full of chocolate, turkey, cake and more, I decided that I was going to try and lose a few pounds to get in shape for the summer, something which I think a lot of girls do in the hopes of fitting into the perfect bikini.

I started by making sure whenever I did the weekly food shop that I would buy everything which Sainsburys and Waitrose told me was ‘good for me’ and was part of their healthy range. I ate just fruit for breakfast, and felt guilty whenever I ate a piece of cake. I filled my cupboards with exotic flavours of green tea, from gingerbread to salted caramel, and frantically signed up for the gym. Every time my boyfriend suggested having some chocolate on an evening, or going out for dessert, I’d say no and cook something healthy at home.

To be fair, this did help me lose weight, but the problem was, I never enjoyed meals as much anymore, and I craved sweet treats like peanut M and M’s, salt and pepper crisps, and cake, so much cake. And so I decided to hell with it, I wasn’t going to feel guilty anymore.

So now, I eat healthy most of the time instead of all of the time. If my friends want to go for a coffee, I’ll say yes and order my favourite calorie laden frappucino. But I’ll make sure that I cook a healthy tea as a consequence. I’ve found that the brown bread, the wholemeal seeded bread which I hated growing up, was much tastier and more filling than the white I always used to buy, and I’ve found that chicken on sandwiches is much tastier than full fat cheese. I’ve even found a healthy alternative to my favourite crisps, which are Kettle’s Maple BBQ Waves, which contain less fat and less calories, but are still just as yummy and satisfying.

In my opinion, it’s all about finding a balance.Sometimes it’s good to indulge, and it’s just what you need after a long day at school, or university, or work. But sometimes you feel motivated to eat healthy and do loads of exercise and that’s also okay. But there’s no point in feeling miserable anymore, or worrying about your weight, because chances are you’re great already just the way you are. Just make a few simple changes, and you’ll be surprised at how much more effective they are compared to completely depriving yourself of everything you love.